It is frequently necessary to transport patients to or from a hospital or from one area within a health care facility to another part of the health care facility. In transporting patients, operators (usually two Emergency Medical Technicians) are routinely required to physically lift the transporter carrying the patient. This places the operators at a high risk of significant and even crippling back injuries, particularly in the field where regular hospital facilities are not available.
The transporters used to move patients from one location to another within a health care facility are frequently expensive, heavy duty devices which are unsatisfactory for use in the field. These intra-hospital transporters usually must be connected to an electrical outlet in order to adjust the position or height of the transporter for the patient's comfort or for transferring the patient to or from an operating table or other medical apparatus.
Various attempts have been made to reduce the back stress and the risk of back injury to transporter operators. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,914 (DiMucci et al.) issued Mar. 5, 1996, discloses a lightweight, compact, cost effective, and adaptable power-assisted mobile patient transporter. Copending application, Ser. No. 08/511,848, filed Aug. 7, 1995 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,914 (DiMucci et al.), entitled "POWER LIFTING UNIT AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING MOBILE PATIENT TRANSPORTER" by Vito A. DiMucci and Michael V. DiMucci, also discloses a power-assisted mobile patient transporter.
However, present power-assisted lifting mechanisms for transporters typically suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the present power-assisted lifting mechanisms for gurneys assume that operators will activate the present power-assisted lifting mechanisms by fully pulling the handle for engaging the motor of the power-assisted lifting mechanism. Unfortunately, operators become accustomed to the minimal effort required to use the present power-assisted lifting mechanisms, and operators may not fully pull the handle before attempting to raise or lower the gurney. As a result, the present power-assisted lifting mechanisms may jam, because operators do not fully pull the handle for the minimal period of time necessary to sufficiently jog the motor to release the detent mechanism of the gurney.
Another problem with the present power-assisted lifting mechanisms is that operators may attempt to raise the gurney beyond the maximum height of the gurney. In particular, the present power-assisted lifting mechanisms permit operators to pull the handle and jog the motor even if the gurney has been raised to its maximum height. As a result, operators may attempt to drive the power-assisted lifting mechanism to raise the gurney beyond its maximum height thereby causing excessive stress on components of the lifting mechanism and gurney.
A further problem with present power-assisted lifting mechanisms is that present power-assisted lifting mechanisms fail to provide operators with adequate warning of a low battery condition.